The band started when Jorge González and Miguel Tapia decided to start their own band while being high school students. They were inexperienced but enthusiastic, after many practices and writing songs, they asked Claudio Narea if he would like to join them, and impressed by the music they were making, he accepted. Towards the early 80's they went through some name changes and before settling on "Los Prisioneros" they had the name "Los Vinchukas" as their original name. In 1983, they had played a number of local shows and that's when they met Carlos Fonseca, their future manager. Through him, they managed to score a record deal with Fusión Producciones.
In 1984, the band's debut album was released, with the hit song "La Voz De Los '80" (which was never a single). They reached acclaim in the radio and by the next year they would be touring. In 1986, their long awaited second album "Pateando Piedras" went double Platinum album in Chile. By that time, the group was invited to perform at Argentina's Chateau Rock Festival and later to a similar event in Montevideo, Uruguay. They continued touring and they became more successful mainstream wise.
The band disbanded in 1992, then as a quartet with additional members Cecilia Aguayo (keyboards) and Robert Rodríguez (guitar), since Claudio Narea had left the band earlier in 1990.
The original lineup of the band decided to get back together in 2001, offering two massive concerts in the National Stadium of Santiago, and then releasing "Los Prisioneros", their first original studio album in 13 years. However, internal problems between González and Narea led again to the departure of the guitarist in 2001. Los Prisioneros continued working as a duet with guest members like Álvaro Henríquez whom with they released a cover album. In 2004 two additional musicians joined the band: Sergio "Coty" Badilla and Gonzalo Yáñez, releasing their sixth album Manzana the same year. A little while after the release of the album band members decided to establish themselves in Mexico, attempting to get more international exposure. Yáñez decided not to leave Chile and left the band. After touring through several locations in North and South America, they finally disbanded in 2006.
Latinoamerica Es Un Pueblo Al Sur De Ee.Uu.
Los Prisioneros Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Es un sitio exótico para visitar
Es solo un lugar económico,
Pero inadecuado para habitar
Les ofrecen latinoamericano,
El carnaval de rio y las ruinas aztecas
Gente sucia vagando en las calles,
Dispuesta a venderse por algunos usa dollars
A este inmenso pueblo lleno de tristeza
Se sonríen cuando ven que tiene veintitantas banderitas
Cada cual mas orgullosa de su soberania
Que tonteria!
Dividir es debilitar
Las potencias son los protectores
Que prueban sus armas en nuestras guerrillas
Ya sean rojos o rayados a la hora del final no hay
Diferencia
Invitan a nuestros lideres a vender su alma al
Diablo verde
Inventan bonitas siglas para que se sientan
Un poco mas importantes
Y el inocente pueblo de latinoamericano
Llorara si muere Ronald Reagan o la reina
Y le sigue paso a paso la vida a carolina
Como si esa gente sufriera del subdesarrollo
Estamos en un hoyo! parece que en realidad
Latinoamericano es un pueblo al sur de
Estados unidos
Para que se sientan en familia
Copiamos sus barrios y su estilo de vida
We try to talk in the jet-set languaje
Para que no nos crean incivilizados
Cuando visitamos sus ciudades
Nos fichan y tratan como a delincuentes
Rusos, ingleses, gringos, franceses
Se ríen de nuestros novelescos directores
Somos un pueblito tan simpatico
Que todos nos ayudan si se trata de una guerra armar
Pero esa misma cantidad de oro la podrian dar
Para encontrar la solución definitiva al hambre
Latinoamericano es grande
Debe aprender a decidir
Latinoamericano es un pueblo al sur de estados
Unidos
The song "Latinoamerica es un pueblo al sur de Ee.Uu" by Los Prisioneros criticizes the way in which Latin America is viewed by tourists and the rest of the world. The lyrics describe how Latin America is seen as an exotic place to visit that is characterized by cheap living conditions and a people who are willing to sell themselves for a few US dollars. The song highlights a sense of inferiority and tristeza (sadness) that is associated with how Latin Americans view their own country. The line "Gente sucia vagando en las calles, dispuesta a venderse por algunos USD" is particularly poignant, as it reveals a sense of desperation and hopelessness that is often associated with poverty.
The song highlights the division that exists within Latin America itself, as the various countries compete with one another to see who has the most pride in their nation. The line "Cada cual más orgullosa de su soberanía que tontería! Dividir es debilitar" underscores the fact that this sense of pride only serves to weaken the region as a whole. The song also critiques the way in which Latin America is treated by more powerful nations, who use the region as a testing ground for their weapons and political ideologies. The line "Las potencias son los protectores que prueban sus armas en nuestras guerrillas" highlights how the region is used as a pawn in a larger geopolitical game.
Line by Line Meaning
Para turistas gente curiosa,
To curious tourists,
Es un sitio exótico para visitar
It's an exotic place to visit,
Es solo un lugar económico,
It's just an economic place,
Pero inadecuado para habitar
But inadequate to live in
Les ofrecen latinoamericano,
They offer them Latin American,
El carnaval de rio y las ruinas aztecas
The Rio carnival and Aztec ruins
Gente sucia vagando en las calles,
Dirty people wandering the streets,
Dispuesta a venderse por algunos usa dollars
Willing to sell themselves for a few US dollars
Nadie en el resto del planeta toma en serio
No one in the rest of the planet takes seriously
A este inmenso pueblo lleno de tristeza
This immense, sad-filled people
Se sonríen cuando ven que tiene veintitantas banderitas
They smile when they see that they have twenty-something flags
Cada cual mas orgullosa de su soberania
Each one prouder of their sovereignty
Que tonteria! Dividir es debilitar
What foolishness! Dividing is weakening
Las potencias son los protectores
Powers are the protectors
Que prueban sus armas en nuestras guerrillas
That test their weapons in our guerrillas
Ya sean rojos o rayados a la hora del final no hay Diferencia
Whether red or striped, at the end, there's no difference
Invitan a nuestros lideres a vender su alma al Diablo verde
They invite our leaders to sell their soul to the green devil
Inventan bonitas siglas para que se sientan Un poco mas importantes
They invent nice acronyms to make them feel a little more important
Y el inocente pueblo de latinoamericano
And the innocent Latin American people
Llorara si muere Ronald Reagan o la reina
Will cry if Ronald Reagan or the queen dies
Y le sigue paso a paso la vida a carolina
And follows Carolina's life step by step
Como si esa gente sufriera del subdesarrollo
As if those people suffer from underdevelopment
Estamos en un hoyo! parece que en realidad
We are in a hole! it seems that in reality
Latinoamericano es un pueblo al sur de Estados unidos
Latin American is a people to the south of the United States
Para que se sientan en familia
So that they feel at home
Copiamos sus barrios y su estilo de vida
We copy their neighborhoods and their way of life
We try to talk in the jet-set language
We try to talk in the jet-set language
Para que no nos crean incivilizados
So that they don't think we're uncivilized
Cuando visitamos sus ciudades
When we visit their cities
Nos fichan y tratan como a delincuentes
They profile us and treat us like delinquents
Rusos, ingleses, gringos, franceses
Russians, English, Americans, French
Se ríen de nuestros novelescos directores
They laugh at our novelistic directors
Somos un pueblito tan simpático
We're such a friendly little town
Que todos nos ayudan si se trata de una guerra armar
That everyone helps us when it comes to war
Pero esa misma cantidad de oro la podrían dar
But they could give that same amount of gold
Para encontrar la solución definitiva al hambre
To find the definitive solution to hunger
Latinoamericano es grande
Latin American is big
Debe aprender a decidir
It must learn to decide
Latinoamericano es un pueblo al sur de Estados Unidos
Latin American is a people to the south of the United States
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Jorge Humberto Gonzalez Rios
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind